Excitement runs high when the feuding film stars Marina Rudd (Elizabeth Taylor) and Lola Brewster (Kim Novak) arrive in the sleepy English village of St Mary Mead, ready to begin work on a movie about Elizabeth I and Lady Jane Grey. But the experience quickly turns sour when an innocent bystander drops dead at a party after drinking a poisoned cocktail. Everyone assumes the drink was intended for Marina, but local resident Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury) has her doubts and begins to investigate.